Her comments came as she prepared to hold further talks with districts as far north as Ashburton in the coming week.
And as neighbouring Dunedin city councillors grapple with a debt — of the council and its companies — approaching $1.4 billion.
When asked by the Otago Daily Times, one Waitaki councillor said debt was a ‘‘major consideration’’ for the community about what future local government arrangements should look like.
Another said it would ‘‘very likely’’ influence decisions made about which district to team up with.
Councils are scrambling to come up with amalgamation plans and have less than three months to go following a government ultimatum.
Failing to make their own plans will mean having plans drawn up for them.
Mrs Tavendale has discussed amalgamation with all of the region’s mayors as chairwoman of the Otago Mayoral Forum, while also meeting the mayors of Waimate, Mackenzie and Timaru.
Waitaki is also part of the Canterbury Mayoral Forum, as its boundaries straddle both regions, and Mrs Tavendale will hold talks with six northern districts at a meeting next week.
Ahead of that meeting, Timaru Mayor Nigel Bowen said,‘‘this region has always been more connected than our council boundaries might
indicate’’.
‘‘Our communities don’t tend to see lines on a map, but the ties between our towns, farms and people run deep.’’
Any future structure had to reflect the region’s shared economies, landscapes and way of life, he said.
Meanwhile, Mrs Tavendale said the reforms were an ‘‘opportunity to build services that are more affordable, more sustainable and better equipped for the future’’.
Responding to the query from the ODT around debt, Mrs Tavendale said, ‘‘debt and assets are a big part of the complex picture, which need to be weighted alongside provision for local voice, scale, simplification and deliverability’’.
Joining up with Southern Waters partners — Central Otago, Clutha and Gore — was also one option being explored, Mrs Tavendale previously confirmed.
Cr Sven Thelning said debt was a ‘‘major consideration’’ for the Waitaki community around what local government should look like in future.
A ‘‘bigger consideration’’ would be around ‘‘future debt’’ if amalgamation combined the democratic arms of councils.
‘‘If the amalgamation involves keeping the democratic arms in place while establishing combined service providers like Southern Waters then the debt situation is simpler.’’
Cr Svelning said due to infrastructure needs, residents should not expect amalgamation ‘‘to make anything cheaper or debt to be less’’.
Cr Jim Hopkins said debt had ‘‘already emerged as an issue for some people and will very likely influence the choices they make as to which council or councils they would prefer to join with’’.
He expected debt to be dealt with in more detail in further government legislation next year rather than in initial amalgamation proposals and that it would become a ‘‘hot topic in the next little while’’.
There were warnings of ‘‘debt monsters’’ in the Dunedin City Council this week as councillors voted to extinguish a covenant relating to interest on group debt compared with rates income.
Group debt was forecast to reach $2.3b in 2034.
Three councillors from Dunedin previously said a Dunedin-Waitaki authority with control of Port Otago was part of their preferred approach to amalgamation.
